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Workaholic, Workaholism

Fri, 01/04/2008 - 17:16 — ChristineTan

Workaholic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colloquially, a workaholic is a person who is addicted to work. This phrase does not always imply that the person actually enjoys their work, but rather simply feels compelled to do it. There is no generally accepted medical definition of such a condition, although some forms of stress, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder can be work-related. Although the term "workaholic" usually has a negative connotation, it is sometimes used by people wishing to express their devotion to one's career in positive terms. The "work" in question is usually associated with a paying job, but it may also refer to independent pursuits such as sports, music, art, or blogging.

A "workaholic" in the negative sense is popularly characterized by a neglect of family and other social relations. The term has no clinical definition, however.

Workaholism in Japan is considered a serious social problem leading to early death, often on the job, a phenomenon dubbed kar?shi. Overwork was popularly blamed for the fatal stroke of Prime Minister of Japan Keizo Obuchi, in the year 2000.[1]

The name itself is a play on "alcoholic". The term was coined in 1968 by psychologist Wayne Oates and popularized by his 1971 book Confessions of a Workaholic (Oates's coinage also prompted the widespread use of the -holism suffix for popular compulsions).[2] It gained more widespread use in the 1990s, as the result of a wave of the self-help movement that centered on addiction, forming an analogy between harmful social behaviors such as over-work and drug addiction, including addiction to alcohol. Although "workaholic" is not an official medical or psychological term, it remains in widespread usage to refer to those whose expenditure of time on work and work-related issues leads to the detriment of their bodily health, social lives, family and domestic life, or leisure time.